in blackwater woods | evan rosier

three

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1972
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     "Jenson— please!" Elspeth whined, pulling at her brother's robes. The prefect badge pinned to Jenson's chest seemed to shine brighter as she followed after him past the large windows in the Ravenclaw common room.

"I have a prefects meeting Spetty, you know this, I told you I did"

"Can't I just wait in your dorm until you're done?" Elspeth pouted, and Jenson paused, turning around to face the eleven year old girl.

"Elspeth— listen, it's been two months now" her brother reasoned, placing a hand on Elspeth's shoulder, "Go and try to speak to your dorm mates, I'm not even supposed to let you in here, we're worried"

Elspeth felt so lonely in Slytherin. Sure, her mum had been one, but her mum wasn't there to hang out with her. Hamish was a Hufflepuff before he graduated, Jenson was a Ravenclaw, and Ewan and Marlene had each other in Gryffindor. The girls in her dorm seemed so scary.

"But they're mean Sonny"

"I bet you can be meaner" He chuckled, once again moving to head towards the common room door,

"Oh! Ewan tattled didn't he? I didn't mean to interrupt his study date with the Hufflepuff girl but Marlene was busy Jenson, I promise!"

"Spetty, it's not that none of us want to hang out with you, I just played exploding snap with you for an hour— but we won't always be around" Jenson persuaded her, and Elspeth only pouted further, "You have to make your own mates too"

"Please?" Elspeth begged, clasping her hands together tightly under her chin, and Jenson sighed.

"Aye— and you say you don't wanna be a Slytherin, alright just, I dunno" He paused, looking around the common room, "Go sit on the sofa until I come back or something"

And Elspeth did, quite happily. She sat herself onto the velvet blue sofa and kicked her feet.

"I find my dorm mates a little mean too"

Elspeth was joined on the sofa by another first year, a Ravenclaw girl whose long blonde hair was held back by a small black headband. Not blonde like Marlene, Sonny or Hamish— or her technically, Elspeth liked to think her own hair was in that weird spot right between blonde and brown, nowhere near as dark as Ewan's though. But a wispy light blonde that border-lined platinum. Elspeth wouldn't say it out loud (Merlin, that would be embarrassing) but she almost looked like a faerie.

"I'm Pandora Rosier, apologies for being such a snoop, but you're Jenson's sister? He was the prefect that showed us around the tower the first night, he seems really nice"

"Rosier? Do you have a brother?" Elspeth asked, trying to picture the other first year Rosier she shared a house with. "I'm Elspeth— but, Evan right? He's friends with Regulus Black"

Pandora nodded, a smile on her face, "We're twins, I'm older by a minute and a half— though don't tell him I said that"

"Oh that's no worries, I don't really speak to him" Elspeth answered, and Pandora frowned, "Not anyone in your house?" And Elspeth grinned sheepishly, shaking her head.

"Well that's no good, I have one friend in Ravenclaw, his name's Barty but he's in the library right now— would you like to come with me? I'm about to go meet him" She asked, and then her expression slightly sombered, "If it makes you feel better, I wish I was in the same house as my brother too, he was cross with me after the sorting, but I introduced Barty to my brother and Reggie, and they're becoming fast mates— so if you stick with me then you can have some mates from Slytherin too"

Elspeth weighed the options in her head for a moment— imagining the two boys Pandora spoke of. They seemed alright, definitely tended to stick to themselves. They must have been mates before school too, she'd have to ask Pandora. But it wouldn't hurt to agree. Her siblings would probably throw a party, Elspeth knew she had been quite smothering lately— but surely they had too when they were first years. Maybe not Hamish, since he was the first. Oh Merlin, poor Hamish! Elspeth couldn't imagine.

"Alright, I'll come"

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

"I heard from a wee birdie that wee Elspeth has finally found mates"

Elspeth jumped as hands grabbed her by the back of her shoulders, shaking her in place. She spun around— eyes wide as Ewan laughed at the expression on her face.

"Why you— that is not funny!" She huffed, smoothing out her robes, "And if by wee birdie you mean Jenson, then yes, I think that I have"

She liked Pandora and Barty, and it turned out that her dad worked with Barty's, though Elspeth found he was slightly quieter than the blonde girl. But not as quiet as Regulus— who along with Evan had joined them in the library. Evan was funny, he made Elspeth laugh. She thinks they all might be mates now, but it was hard to tell. She hoped they would be.

"Quite rude of you to stick him up after pleading with the sod to let you stay" Ewan chastised, clicking his tongue at his younger sister.

"Well I think it was quite rude of you to tattle in the first place, you could have told me you fancied that girl"

Ewan rolled his eyes, though slung an arm around Elspeth's shoulder as they resumed walking through the corridor to dinner. She had walked with Pandora and Barty back to the Ravenclaw Tower, only a short distance from Gryffindor— she normally didn't have to walk this way.

"Oi!" Ewan called ahead, and Elspeth could see Marlene further down the corridor with her own mates, though she stopped to turn around at their brother's voice, smiling before running back towards them.

"Marls I never thought I would say it— but the day has come"

"And what day do you speak of exactly?" Marlene teased, eyeing the pair of them suspiciously, though moving to walk in step with them. Elspeth rolled her eyes in embarrassment and shrugged Ewan's arm off of her shoulder.

"We've been freed Mar, I mean it— I didn't believe it myself, you know how Sonny can embellish, but Spetty's confirmed it" Ewan sighed, and Marlene's expression didn't falter,

"Can you get to the bloody point?"

Elspeth huffed, annoyed— and turned towards her sister, "I have mates now, is what Ewan means to say"

"Ouch!" Ewan whined, flinching away as Marlene reached over Elspeth to punch him in the arm. Which was a funny sight, considering the fourth year had nearly half a foot in height on both girls.

"You weren't supposed to tell her" Marlene hissed,

"Jenson did— not me!"

"Oh who cares" Elspeth teased, "I get it, I'm a leach and none of my siblings love me, no offence taken I promise!" And the three continued their walk to dinner.

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1972
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guys these earlier timeline chapters both heal me & break my heart even more.

jess <333